


Blood and the moon

by 1337wtfomgbby



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M, Mentions of Violence, and entrails, no beta we die like men, some people die but only background characters, werewolfs and vampires are real in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24288568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1337wtfomgbby/pseuds/1337wtfomgbby
Summary: It was something they all wanted to be dealt with.For weeks now, each morning trooper had turned up dead, but not just dead, but mangled beyond recognition dead.Their injuries looked liked they were attacked by an animal, deep gashes and entire bites taken from the flesh.
Relationships: Hardcase/CT-6116 | Kix
Kudos: 8





	1. Moon

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by a DickTim-week prompt that was Blood and Moon.

It was something they all wanted to be dealt with.  
For weeks now, each morning trooper had turned up dead, but not just dead, but mangled beyond recognition dead.  
Their injuries looked liked they were attacked by an animal, deep gashes and entire bites taken from the flesh. 

However, the postmortem didn't bring them any closer to finding out what animal exactly attacked the trooper; and how it was apparently traveling with them.  
It also didn't happen always.  
For example, it didn't happen when they were on board of the Resolute, only when they were planetside. 

Morale was tanking around the time they got onto the next planet.  
The mission was a giant desaster, and to top it all off another trooper turned up dead.  
Hanging from a tree no less.  
„A vengefull spirit maybe,“ Ahsoka contemplated, murmuring something about a specific kind of spirit from a a planet in the deepest depths.

Some of them believed her, others still looked toward a differnt kind of explanation.  
„Sounds like a lycanthrope to me,“ Fives hummed and they all stared at him as if he was crazy, Fives starring back at them, apparently thinking the same of them.  
„What?“ he grumbled, „they turn during a full moon. Which would explain why nothing was happening on the Resolute. No real day and night with the sun and the moon.“ 

Some of them nodded in agreement, while others scoffed.  
„And according to what,“ Echo sighed, rubbing his forehead, as always one of the sceptics. „According to legend and your horror fliks. There's no proove of lycanthropy even being real, Fives.“  
Rex nodded in agreement, as did commander tano. 

Echo turned to Kix astounded as the medic suddenly started to snicker.  
„I'm sorry,“ Kix chuckled, „it's just the full moon part that gets me.“  
„That's the way it works. They turn during a full moon,“ Fives scoffed, „everyone knows that, Kix.“ „But why only on a full moon?“ Kix snorted, raising a brow, and prompting him to explain, „why not at any moon?“

„Have to agree. The nights it's been happening, were all different kinds of moon phases,“ Ahsoka nodded, earning herself a sidelong glace from a despairing Rex.  
„Whatever it is that's doing this,“ he huffed, rubing his aching temples, „we need to find out what it is and that quick.“

From then on they doubled the nightly sentries, but it still kept on happening.  
Kix didn't seem to take it all that well too, Hardcase noticed.  
He tried hiding it but Hardcase knew him long enough to see right through his bantha crap.  
They still had a medic do a postmortem on all new victims, and more then once it had been Kix doing it, and what he saw was bound to get to him at some point. 

Kix' usual coping mechanism was to bury his emotions, but this time was different, it was worse.  
This time Hardcase, more often then not, had no idea where Kix was.  
Even when he was supposed to be on duty, he seemed to find some way to slip out.  
But no one else seemed to notice, so Hardcase chalked it up to him just being overly on edge.  
At least at first.

That was before he walked into the fresher, one night on the Resolute.  
Kix hadn't noticed him and Hardcase had planned on surprising the other, something he didn't do very often.  
He had already come pretty close, but the mark on Kix' left flank had stopped him in his tracks.  
It looked just like claw marks, from something very big and powerfull.  
He remembered what Fives had said, about needing to be attacked by another lycanthrope to turn into a beast oneselfe.

Hardcase buried his suspicions deep down and denied them for as long as he could, until his damn curiosity got the better of him.  
He decided to follow Kix closely the next time they were planetside.  
The mission was running smoothly for once and by the time night broke all was taken care of and they were back on base. 

Which didn't make it easier for Hardcase to follow the medic, since there were far more people around.  
There were some close calls, and over Jesse's damn talkative nature he nearly lost Kix.  
He managed to close in on him again, always remind himself to keep some distance between them so Kix wouldn't notice that he was being followed.

Hardcase frowned as Kix left the base and went heading for the nearby woods.  
Hardcase decided to give Kix somewhat of a head start, before following him into the woods.  
He didn't knew how he did it, but he was somehow able to follow Kix' trail into the depths of the forest. 

After some time and some twists and turns, Hardcase found him on a small clearing, hugging a tree.  
_Okay, that's weird_ , he thought as he stepped out from the brush to ask, „What's up with the tree hugging?“  
Kix flinched violently, dropped something with a thud and spun around to face him.  
„Hardcase,“ he stared at him with eyes huge with shock, or maybe fear.  
„What are you doing here?“ he snapped, backing away towards the tree he'd been up against.

„You've been acting strange lately,“ Hardcase said, „Slipping out on your shift, closing yourself off. Then those claw marks on your side.“ He pointed at Kix' left side.  
The medic flinched and touched his side, before sighing in resignation, he always forgot how attentive Hardcase was.

Suddenly there was a shiver going through Kix' body and he flinched, his face contorting in pain.  
„You- You caught me at a rather inconveniant time,“ Kix stammered, snatching what he had droppe earlier back up from the ground.  
Hardcase frowned as he recognized the thing to be handcuffs.  
„What were you-“ he started, before a chuckle from Kix cut him off.

„Haven't you figured it out yet?“ he asked, eyes gleaming with a kind of animalistic interest.  
As he grinned, his lip pulled up and Hardcase thought to see the glimmer of longer, and sharper teeth.  
„I was about to restrain myself, if that could jog your brain.“  
Hardcase felt as if a AT-TE just trampled him. 

It all made sense, but did that also mean he needed to accept it?  
Had Fives' hunch of it being a lycanthrope been correct after all?  
But those were mere legends and movies, nothing more. Or were they?

„I didn't want to kill them,“ Kix pressed out. He had dropped the cuffs again, doubling down in obvious pain, „You have to believe me.“  
„So, Fives was right,“ Hardcase gasped.  
Kix' back did something strange, as it moved as if the bones itself were shifting under the skin.  
„Yeah,“ Kix gasped, falling to his knees and holding his head, „He was just wrong about one thing.“ As he now looked up at Hardcase his eyes were no longer brown, but instead a burning yellow.  
„It isn't restricted to the full moon. Frek, I wish it was.“

Hardcase gasped and stumbled backwards.  
Now it was pretty obvious that Kix was changeing.  
The shifting bone made loud crunching noises, as Kix' limbs elongated and his head changed shape.  
During the movies Hardcase usually looked away, but now he couldn't.  
He didn't knew if it was because he was too scared, or because he didn't want to leave Kix alone with his change. 

Once the change had finished Hardcase was face with a creature that was taller then himself, had a very big mouth with a row of terrifying long teeth and those burning yellow eyes directed at him.  
„K-Kix,“ Hardcase stammered and stumbled backwards as the creature, that was actually his best friend, started to stalk closer to him.  
„K-Kix, it's me,“ he tried again but Kix' only response was to open his giant mouth and start growling. 

Hardcase backed up more, and as he only had eyes for the creature in front of him, he didn't notice where he was going, so he gasped in shock as he stumbled backwards, over a fallen branch.  
Kix immediately pounced, mouth wide open and clawed paws outstretched to tear into him,  
„No,“ Hardcase screamed, trying desperately to keep himself from getting mauled like the others had been. 

Only now did he fully understand that it had been Kix, in this form tearing up his own brothers.  
He apparently had no understading, of who he was and who they were.  
„K-Kix, please. It's me, Hardcase,“ he sobbed, „don't you recognize me.“ 

He had gotten a hold of Kix's jaw, forcing it to stay open and away from him.  
The claws were digging into his thin off duty fatigues, and Kix' general weight was crushing him into the ground.  
Kix didn't stop pushing however, and Hardcase knew he couldn't hold him back forever, that it was only a matter of time before Kix would tear him appart.

„No, no, no,“ Hardcase gasped, while Kix' jaws came closer and closer, slowly but surely slipping his grip.  
„Kix, please. Please, you know who I am. Please don't do this.“  
The creature shook it's head sharply and then it's jaws descended down towards his throat, as Hardcase couldn't hold him back any longer.  
Strong jaws closed around his neck and Hardcase was sure this was how was gonne die.

But nothing happened.  
He layed there, immobilized by Kix weight and the hold his jaws had on his neck, but still very much alive.  
„K-Kix?“ he asked, and Kix made a strange grumbeling noise deep in his chest as if in response.  
Hardcase fliched as something warm and wet touched the skin of his neck.  
Kix' giant tongue had lolled out and was scraping over his skin, tasting him.

Once he seemed satisfied the jaws released his neck and Kix' head retreated.  
Hardcase followed it's movement, but a low grumble from the creature had him lay down flat again. Kix' enormous head descended upon him again, but this time to snuffle all around his face, neck and chest.  
Then Kix' body lost all tension and Hardcase was being crushed into the forests ground.  
He gasped as the weight of the creature pressed down on his chest and effectively emptied all the air from his lungs. 

As he finally managed to get enough air in again, he noticed that he was still alive.  
Pressed down on the ground by a giant creature that was actually the person he was head over heels in love with, but still alive.  
„Erm Kix,“ he said carefully and got a deep rumble in response.  
Stunned, Hardcase raised a hand -slowly, ever so slowly- and ran his fingers through the creatures furr.

He hadn't had enough time to look at it closely, too busy with trying to avoid getting mauled.  
Now he could take his time and take a close look at the furr.  
It was black, thick and course.  
He could make out some grey parts here and there too, but mostly it was black.  
„Kix, are you okay,“ Hardcase asked after a while and Kix responded with a calm grumble, that reverberated through his chest and right into Hardcase's body.  
He shuddered and nodded, it seemed to be an affirmative. 

„Would you mind letting me up then?“  
Kix growled again and one of his paws came up and landed on his chest.  
Hardcase caught at the force of it.  
„Okay, okay. It's just... my back's starting to hurt.“  
Another noise that sounded more like a reluctant hum and Kix' massive body lifted off of him.  
Hardcase still remained laying down for a moment, until he could force himself into a sitting position.  
He remained sitting for quite some time, just starring at Kix. 

He was still alive, Kix had smelled him, tasted him and had apparently been able to recognize him.  
So if he had seen the signs sooner, he could've probably saved many of his brothers from being killed.  
That realisation was like a stone setteling into his stomach.  
They could all be still alive, had he just put two and two together sooner. 

Hardcase only noticed that he was crying as Kix' gigantic head suddenly came to rest on his shoulder.  
The creature flopped down on the ground with a loud thud, and rolled up around him on the ground.  
Kix pushed at his arm, until he had it laying around his massive neck, then layed his head down into Hardcase's lap.  
Hardcase didn't knew why, but the closenes and the warmth Kix' body was radiating was enough to calm his nerves; even though he should probably still be on high alert. 

„T-Thanks,“ he choked out around a broken sob and akwardly patted the others head.  
Kix grumbled in approval and turned his head, so his ear was pressed to Hardcase's chest.  
And if Hardcase had to spend the night with a giant lycanthrope cuddled up to him, and listening to his heartbeat, in order to prevent more death, then he was oddly okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kix looses any and all grasp on his mind when he turns into a werewolf.  
> The only thing that manages to cut through it is Hardcase's smell, which Kix manages to latch onto; because they are soulmates.


	2. Blood

It wasn't as hard to keep from the others what had happened to Kix, as Hardcase had expected.  
Appart from the changes Kix underwent at night, nothing realy changed.   
Well, nothing changed that couldn't be hidden.  
Kix had already noticed his highetened senses and, even before Hardcase found out, learned rather quickly how to hide the fact that he smelled and heard things the others couldn't.  
Sometimes it got a bit tricky, as his vision changed as well and he needed to rely on others to not give away the fact that he couldn't see green.

It was tricky sometimes, as he racked his brains to connect a troopers face to a unit, name and rank.  
Most of the time someone else would fill in the blanks, and Kix used the tiredness-excuse way more often then before.   
To the point, that Resol and the captain suspected it to be full blown insomnia at this point.  
Which was still better then them knowing the truth, Kix thought.  
Hardcase asked if they shouldn't talk to the captain at least, multiple times, but Kix refused every time. 

It was working out, wasn't it.   
As long as Hardcase stayed with him at night, and they made sure to be as far away from wandering eyes as possible, it was allright.  
It worked for months, until that one mission were everything fell appart; as it always did.

They were send onto a strange moon in the outer rim.   
Intel had it the CIS were using the native species for some kind of nefarious plan.   
Torent was split up during the mission, to cover more ground in the planets forests.   
It was bound to all go to hell from the start, the planet only had five hours of daylight, compared to the twenty hours of night time. 

And as fait would have it, they also got split up.  
Hardcase threw him a panicked look, but Kix shook his head, they couldn't be causing a scene now.  
As soon as the sun started setting Kix could feel his grip on his mind desintegrating.   
Darknes fell around them, he could feel the light of the moon shining upon them, Fives said something he couldn't quite make out, before he lost any and every logical thought.

While Kix caused carnage around team alpha, beta had their own set of problems.  
There had been no information on the planets native species, but as soon as night fell they all knew very well what they were.  
They seemed to be at least partly humanoid, very fast and had a penchant for biting.   
Qicker then they all could realy keep up with, they came jumping from the shadows of the treets around them, dragging trooper off with them left and right. 

Just as Hardcase could place the strange noises he could hear in the distance, as the faint snarling and howling echo of Kix who had apparently utterly lost it, one of the planets natives grabbed his arms and he was dragged off into the darknes.   
Hardcase didn't knew what happened afterwards, as he woke up feeling drained and aching all over hours later. 

As soon as he opened his eyes he knew something was utterly wrong.   
He could see very sharp and very far, could hear way more then he could before.   
Especially the drip, drip, drip of the blood all around him.   
There was also a thud, thud, thud that he couldn't quite place.  
It was strangely reverberating and he was sure he had heard it some place before. 

But before he could even try to get himself together and try to sort himself out, branches crunched and snapped unnaturally loud, and he was hit be a smell he knew in the back of his mind, but couldn't quite place.   
The brush next to him rustled and the sound of it had him nearly black out.   
The fresh smell of blood hit him full force and Hardcase instinctively jumped in the direction of it.   
He collided with a figure that smelled so familiar that Hardcase stopped dead in his tracks.

Kix looked horrible.  
His expression was haunted and utterly mortified.   
The armor he was wearing was, not his own, not complete and scorched, torn and drenched in blood in multiple places.  
He flinched back a pace as soon as he looked at Hardcase's neck, which Hardcase touched a hand to immediately and came away sticky and bloody.

„They got you, didn't they,“ Kix said in a quiet whisper, stepping closer, cautiously as if fearing Hardcase to attack him any moment now.  
Which was utterly ludicrous.  
Kix was the lycanthrobe here, and apparently also afraid Hardcase would attack him.  
That's when Hardcase noticed how he was leaning ever closer to Kix, following the smell of the blood on his armor and the thud, thud, thud of his heart.

Wait, how could he be hearing his heartbeat from this far away, and how could he be so sure that the blood drenching Kix' armor wasn't Kix', but of another trooper Hardcase didn't knew the name of.  
„Where are the others?“ he found himself asking.  
„They managed to barricade themselfes into the shuttle,“ Kix explained, scratching the back of his neck, „At least some of them.“

Then he stepped closer, raising his hand to Hardcase's neck to have a look at what was causing the bleeding.  
His smell hit him like a slap to the face.  
Hardcase had smelled Kix in his wolf form before, he smelled of forest and earth, kind of animal and kind of still like Kix; but now that smell was amplified by at least 60 percent.

On instinct Hardcase's hands shot up, and grabbed onto the wrist of the hand Kix had been rasing to his neck.   
With his other hand Hardcase reached up himself to feel around the sticky blood.   
His fingers came into contact with two small holes, not far from another, and that was the moment his heart plummeted out of his chest.

„Hardcase,“ Kix snapped as Hardcase backed away from him.  
„Oh no,“ he gasped, „what did they do?“  
„Hardcase,“ Kix said again, grabbing him at the shoulders to stop his retreat.  
„Look at me,“ he snapped, and Hardcase followed it like an order given.

As soon as he locked eyes with Kix, it occured to him just how brown the medic's eyes were.  
There was also something else, Hardcase swore he could see the beast lurking in Kix' eyes.  
„They got to you.“  
Kix voice shook him out of his thoughts and had him flinch.  
„I can smell it,“ Kix explained, touching the wounds on his neck, „They made you one of them.“

„One of them?“ Hardcase asked, voice sounding awefully small, even to himself.  
„Izcacus,“ Kix said, his lip curling and Hardcase could make out the faint growling of the beast inhabiting Kix' body, „a blood drinker.“  
No, Hardcase shook his head.  
This couldn't be.

Hardcase frowned, but did notice the underlying hunger inside himself, a hunger that he couldn't quite place; he nodded, as did Kix.  
He didn't seem surprised, but sighed, rubbing at the crease between his brows, that he always got when he was either annoyed, or exasperated.  
Or, in rare cases, at the end of his rope.

„You need blood,“ he said, so matter-of-factly that Hardcase flinched back.  
He watched Kix taking off his hand and forearm bracers, dropping them and the glove of his left hand to the ground, before rolling up the sleeve of his body suite.   
Hardcase backed away even further.  
„No,“ he growled, „Go away. Go!“  
Kix shook his head. „You need it,“ he stated calmly.

„No, not yours,“ Hardcase snapped, „Not like this.“   
„Look,“ Kix snapped as well, cupping his face and leaning into his personal bubble, to the point their foreheads were touching, and the smell of the blood on Kix' armor was way too overwhelming to Hardcase's senses.   
„I want to do this,“ Kix said slowly, putting as much emphasis into his words as he could. 

Strangely Kix' heartbeat was calm, way calmer then Hardcase's own.   
The thoughts were racing around in his head.   
What should he do? He knew deep down that Kix was right, he needed this, needed the fresh blood.   
But he didn't want it from Kix, or did he?  
There was this strange pull in his stomach, that pulled him toward Kix. 

Everything about Kix' offer was enticing.   
He could feel his own heartbeat attuning to Kix', and couldn't even tell how he knew that it was right.   
„I know you won't kill me,“ Kix whispered, „and I know you wouldn't manage to turn me either.“

Reluctantly Hardcase took Kix' arm into his hands, zeroing in on all those veins instantly.  
He could feel fangs dropping down, his mouth watering and opening.   
„At some point, you're gonna have to stop me,“ he hissed before biting down on the offered flesh, harder then he had intended.   
As the blood flooded his mouth, alarm bells went off in his brain, telling him to stop stop stop, but he also knew that he needed it. 

It took Kix leaning heavily onto his shoulder to clear his blood crazed mind.   
With a great deal of effort, Hardcase managed to unclench his jaw and let go of Kix' arm.   
He leaned closer to the medic, nuzzeling him a bit to make sure that he was fine.   
Kix looked back at him out of tired eyes, his face way too pale and he looked kinda drunk; but he was fine. 

„Quite the rush.“ Kix managed a breathless chuckle and Hardcase couldn't help himself.   
He leaned in even closer and kissed Kix straight on the mouth, spreading the blood from his mouth to all over Kix' mouth and chin.   
„Thanks,“ he rumbled, still keeping his mouth close to Kix' face.  
„Any time,“ Kix huffed.   
His look of tirednes had transformed into one of confused arousal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Izcacus, means "Blood drinker" in hungarian and since I allready decided to refer to werewolfs as "lycanthrope" I decided to use a other word for vampire as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Kix looses any and all grip on his mind when he is in his werewolf form.  
> The only thing that manages to get through to him is Hardcase's smell, which he can latch onto because they are soulmates.


End file.
